No club return for Ireland players until 'bodies and minds' are right

Connacht's Ireland contingent will come back into selection consideration in three to four weeks’ time but Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham will be assessed on an individual basis.

Winger Hansen limped off during Ireland’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final loss to New Zealand on Saturday night with a leg injury.

"There’s no specifics at this stage," head coach Pete Wilkins told reporters this morning.

"They travel back today, and we’ll touch base with them and get all the medical updates."

Aki was Ireland's player of the tournament, playing every minute and scoring five tries. Hansen started four games, while Bealham made four appearances off the bench.

In addition to the sore bodies, Wilkins said that they will need time to adjust following the emotional toll of the loss.

"It's to be confirmed [but] they’ll need a minimum of three to four weeks to recover properly and that’s physically as well as the mental and emotional side of not only the campaign they have gone through and how it ended. But also the preparation that went into all that.

"So a minimum of three to four weeks and very much on an individual basis in terms of the minutes that they played during the World Cup. And how the bodies and minds are.

"We’ve been in contact with them already and we’ll speak again with them at the end of this week and we’ll work out a plan for them from there.

"[The psychological aspect is] certainly something we need to be aware of.

"There is an element of it that is just the flux and the flow of high-performance sport, I suppose. You get to the end of a major campaign, particularly a World Cup cycle, and there’s always going to be retirements.

"And whether you are celebrating or commiserating, there will always be people leaving that